Stone crushers have played a pivotal role in the history of America since its creation in the mid-s. Since then millions of tons of stone have been crushed to make everything from houses to roads and everything in between.

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The first stone crusher was invented by Eli Whitney Blake, the nephew of Eli Whitney, the creator of the cotton gin. After five years, Blake&#;s stone crusher roared to life, thanks in part to a challenge laid before him by the town of Westville, Conn. The purpose was to put down a rock surface on the roads so wagons wouldn&#;t get stuck in the mud. Blake went further with the design and developed it for the railroads to create ballast.

In the 19th century, rock crushers proved valuable in laying roads to a growing nation. On top of that, they also were used to extract precious metals out of giant blocks of stone.

&#;Rock crushing is driven from a population standpoint because it&#;s the population that&#;s demanding the aggregate. Every type of aggregate that&#;s consumed, people consume it every day of the week. Whether you&#;re building a house or a church, a school building, or laying down highway &#; 90 percent of the asphalt they put down on the road is stone, the rest is sand and liquid asphalt. You know, 60 to 70 percent of concrete is made up of stone; the other is sand and the rest cement. You look at these needs and no one has been able to come up with a type of artificial resource that could be developed to take the place of stone. Every mile of highway requires 38,000 tons of stone.&#;

~ Rich Blake, president and CEO of Mellott

According to the industry, for every person in the area, you have to supply 10 to 12 tons of rock per year.

It&#;s no easy feat turning giant walls of stone into small, uniform rocks. Take the Metso Minerals Superior Gyratory Crusher, for example. It&#;s total weight of 264,000 pounds is housed in a 10-story high reinforced steal tower. The powerhouse is pushed by a 500-horsepower electric motor. Because of that, the gyratory crusher is capable of handling 2,557 tons of stone per hour.

In , Philetus W. Gates was granted a patent on the gyratory crusher. It&#;s given that name because of the motion that actual does the crushing. A relentless back and forth gyration compresses the stone against the chamber walls.

Think of it as a Giant Mechanical Nutcracker

You have two hard surfaces closing together with a soft surface in the center &#; in this case, the rock is the soft surface. So, the two metal parts come together and compress the rock into a smaller size.

The crushers are designed to work in the choke-fed position because the rocks on top of the crusher help push down the rocks through the crushing chamber. The rocks will actually crush against themselves. That&#;s called rock-on-rock crushing. Larger crushers can handle rocks up to 3 feet in diameter. Anything bigger gets broken up by a hydraulic hammer.

&#;The overall principle of crushing is twofold. One is what they call compression crushing, and the other is what we refer to as impact crushing. Compression crushing is taking some type of stationary anvil, adding some type of eccentric anvil, and have rock enter a chamber. The rock would enter the chamber and gravity would pull the rock through. As it&#;s going through, the eccentric motion would crush that piece of rock.&#;

~ Rich Blake, president and CEO of Mellott

The main shaft of the Metso 42X65 crusher weighs 52,000 pounds. As the main shaft rotates, it moves in an eccentric pattern, which crushes the rocks. It rotates 170 times a minute against the chamber walls which are solid, reinforced steel.

According to Blake, there are probably upwards to 30,000 active stone crushers working in the United States today. Some can be as small as 2 feet in size and some could go as large as 10 feet.

Depending on the desired product, the stones can travel through three or four different types of stone crushers.

As with all heavy machinery, safety comes to the forefront.

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&#;First thing, with anything safety, is awareness. The difficulty you had 50, 75, 100 years ago was people weren&#;t aware that things were unsafe. It was the same reason people would repel off of cliffs of rock when they were building dams, or they wouldn&#;t use safety nets when they were building bridges. People weren&#;t aware of the force of crushing rock could be upwards to thousands of pounds. Some rock are 50,000 PSI rock that you&#;re crushing.&#;

~ Rich Blake, president and CEO of Mellott

Blake said he wouldn&#;t classify the stone crushers as being unsafe or hazardous, thanks in large part to safety procedures and new technology.

&#;Today, some of the technology that&#;s available is quite amazing,&#; said Blake. &#;The technology today checks the temperature of bearings and measures the overall force of the crusher. One dangerous event is when uncrushable materials &#; such as a piece of wood, rubber, or steel &#; enters the crusher. When that happens, today&#;s crushers have a built-in safety mechanism as to not damage a shaft or bearing.&#;

The size of the crusher machines have changed, but the general principle has not changed since the late s.

8 Tips for Crusher Safety

October 27,

Crushing machines help reduce the size of rocks, concrete or construction rubble to safely dispose of debris or create material for production purposes. Every operator or employee who works with or around the equipment must receive full training in the stone crusher safety protocols of each machine. This will prevent hazardous messes or risky maneuvers from operators, including greasy platforms that could cause accidents or dirty equipment that might malfunction or break.

Here are eight crusher equipment safety tips for working with, cleaning up after and ending the operation of crushers.

1. Make Sure the Operator Is Fully Trained

When an operator does not receive adequate training, oversized material could enter the crusher and cause damage or the crusher could malfunction due to faulty management. Every operator must be thoroughly trained on feeding the machine and the specific type of crusher they are working with. This makes for a safer and more productive workplace. Ensure that operators keep detailed maintenance records that keep track of any issues with machinery.

2. Perform Regular Maintenance

Operate every crusher at an appropriate capacity to ensure rock crushing plant safety. Keep platforms and areas around the machine clean, and monitor the crusher&#;s lubrication, flow, temperature, wear and pressure at all times. If any hazardous debris exists after shutdown, clean the area to ensure safety and ease of maintenance. Check the workstation from all areas to ensure you&#;ve caught anything that appears risky or unsafe. Create a crusher safety checklist that every operator can use to adhere to company safety protocols in the workplace.

3. Feed Crushers Efficiently

All operators or employees working near the equipment should wear personal protective clothing, such as eye shields or safety belts. Eye shields can protect from flying debris or stones, and safety belts ensure that workers don&#;t fall into or near dangerous machines. Crushers should have all of their guards and safeties in place before operating. When feeding the machine, use choke, non-choke or trickle feeding when necessary and ensure you use the correct feed in primary, secondary and tertiary crushing methods.

4. Keep the Operator Isolated

To ensure industrial rock crusher safety, operators can use an enclosed booth or a remote control station to remain isolated from dirt and debris that could harm the body or lungs. An enclosed cab should:

• Be well-sealed.
• Have proper ventilation.
• Use door jambs, proper joints and window grooves.
• Use an air filter.
• Include heating and air conditioning.
• Be kept clean to prevent settled dust.

5. Use Wet Spray Methods

Wet spray methods reduce the amount of silica exposure by positioning nozzles to thoroughly wet materials, making them easier to crush. For the best results, the size of the droplets should be large enough to wet the material thoroughly. Any nozzles used can include adequate water coverage without wasting water.

6. Perform Proper Shutdown Process

Ending the operation of a crusher is an essential part of crusher safety. There are a few steps to follow when shutting down a crusher that every trained worker should follow:

• Shut down the apron feeder.
• Ensure equipment is free of material.
• Shut down the primary crusher.
• Shut down the secondary crusher.
• De-energize the electromagnet.
• Shut off the dust collector.
• Close the valve to the water line.

After shutting down the crusher correctly, clean the machinery. Any greasy parts or dirty areas could cause workers to slip or hurt themselves. Make cleanups at the end of the day a consistent practice to lower employee hazards and risks.

7. Know the Three Stages of Reduction

It may be necessary for every operator to become familiar with the different kinds of crushers to ensure proper training and running of equipment while on the job. Crushers are typically divided into three categories that describe the phase of the crushing process and the crushing machine&#;s ability:

• Primary crushers: Primary crushers are the first stage in the crushing circuit. After the material is extracted from a mine, the primary crusher ensures the rock is broken down into a size the secondary crusher can handle. Types of primary crushers include jaw, cone, gyratory and impact crushers.
• Secondary crushers: Secondary crushers reduce the size of the material before the tertiary stage. Different feeding techniques might be necessary depending on how fine you want the material. Cone crushers are often used in this stage with consistent choke feeding methods.
• Tertiary crushers: This is the final stage of reduction in the crushing process. Tertiary crushing makes the material into a product. Types of tertiary crushers may include cone crushers, horizontal impact crushers or rolling crushers.

8. Learn the Common Types of Crushers

While various types of crushers exist, the four common types of crushers are the jaw, gyratory, cone and impact crusher. Each type plays a different role in the reduction process, and operators who work with crushing equipment should familiarize themselves with the structure and purpose of each type. Learn the various parts of jaw crusher safety, including how to successfully integrate concrete crusher safety protocols to better inform your work habits:

• Jaw crushers: Jaw crushers are blunt and often used in the primary crushing stage. They can break up large and hard materials but usually need a secondary crusher to make the rock finer.
• Gyratory crushers: Gyratory crushers have a conical head and a concave surface. They break through the material using compression methods and are often used at primary or secondary stations.
• Cone crushers: Cone crushers also work with the compression method, similar to the gyratory crusher. This kind of crusher contains a rotating mantle and a concave surface. It can accept dry or wet feeds depending on the material.
• Impact crushers: Impact crushers are used with less abrasive rocks. They use impact forces using a combination of wear parts like blow bars and impact plates.

Use Safe and Reliable Equipment From Stewart-Amos Co.

Stewart-Amos Co. is one of the mid-Atlantic region&#;s premier aggregate crushing and conveying equipment suppliers. Our staff brings their expertise to every project, including installation, distribution and assembly. We offer companies a large inventory of replacement parts and respond quickly to customer questions and inventory requests. Our goal is to provide the best equipment for the customers&#; needs. Stewart-Amos Co. is dedicated to servicing those customers who choose us as their suppliers. Contact us to speak with a representative or call us today at (800)-482-.

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